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Virtual reality (VR) is of increasing interest to marketers because it can be used to explore and proactively shape long-term futures, co-create value with consumers, and foster consumer-brand engagement. Yet, to date, the field lacks a cohesive framework for approaching VR research; thus, the objective of this systematic literature review is to provide such a framework and highlight research opportunities.

First, after conducting a systematic literature review, we highlight VR themes instrumental to flow and propose a typology for VR research using realism-fantasy and immersion as dimensions. Next, we review the current state of empirical research for each quadrant. Finally, we synthesize research within each quadrant, specifying criteria and considerations for conducting research. In doing so, we propose an agenda for marketing research, centered on methodological, future studies, and consumer-related contributions.

VR themes instrumental to flow include the avatar, application quality, and interactivity. We find, contrary to some conceptualizations of VR, that all applications are capable of producing flow. Conflicting research and gaps are highlighted in the findings section and summarized in Table III. Additionally, while prior research seems to draw from findings of other VR applications in advancing knowledge in general, the results of the literature review suggest that VR applications should be treated uniquely. Finally, we propose highly immersive VR applications as more conducive to future studies research.

Scholars can utilize the findings to prioritize future research studies in marketing. By following the typology and research opportunities, scholars can advance marketing theory and enhance the external validity of research studies through VR applications.

Managers can utilize the findings to ascertain consumers and societies‘ responses to various marketing stimuli, with implications for product development, branding, retail/service experiences, adoption of new technologies, tourism, and many other domains. VR applications offer managers more ways of testing concepts and processes in realistic fashion without the costs and risks associated with more traditional methods.

The objective of this paper is to examine varying opportunities for VR research given flow and fantasy potential and to prioritize VR research.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to provide an overview of related studies and to highlight research gaps and questions that need to be addressed. Research conducted in three-dimensional (3D) online environments constitutes a different research context, not least because it involves the recruitment of avatars in the research process. Researchers need to appreciate better the ethical concerns that arise in this novel, fast-evolving context and how these concern different stakeholders.

The paper employs an interdisciplinary desk-research approach. It critically reviews related literature, highlights the involved stakeholders, discusses ethical issues from a marketing research perspective and concludes with a discussion of related studies and research gaps, providing direct future research avenues.

The characteristics of the 3D online environments and the behaviour and experiences of their users set the boundaries and guide the way regarding the ethical research in this context.

The paper does not present primary empirical results, instead it reviews and critiques related literature in 3D online environments and sets the agenda for future research.

The paper provides ethical guidelines and identifies blurred areas in conducting or participating in research in 3D online environments.

Based on earlier studies and examples of ethical concerns when studying 3D online environments, this paper emphasises the parameters that should be taken into consideration in current and future research studies.

The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of teen consumers’ adoption of virtual fashion. Specifically, the study assessed the effects of individual variables, including fashion innovativeness and peer pressure, on needs gratification, attitudes and adoption of virtual fashion worlds (VFWs) among teen girl consumers.

An online survey was designed and administered to a convenience sample of female teens. Empirical analyses were performed on 177 valid responses. Structural equation modeling was used to test all hypotheses.

The results revealed that adoption of VFWs in the sample was affected significantly by teen female consumers’ needs gratification, attitudes about VFWs and fashion innovativeness. However, peer pressure had no effects.

The emergence of different types of virtual worlds has influenced the way in which business is conducted, and VFWs are a popular trend. However, no studies have examined consumers’ adoption of VFWs that promote fashion using avatars and offer similar styles for teens in the real world. The study adds to existing literature related to consumers’ adoption of innovations by integrating communication, sociological and innovation adoption theories.

This study aims to examine the nature and the potential use of avatar-based focus groups (AFGs) (i.e. focus groups conducted in three-dimensional [3D] virtual worlds [VWs]) as compared to face-to-face and online focus groups (OFGs), motivated by the ability of VWs to stimulate the realism of physical places. Over the past decade, there has been a rapid increase in using 3D VWs as a research tool.

Using a two-phase reflective approach, data were collected first by using traditional face-to-face focus groups, followed by AFGs. In Phase 2, an online, semi-structured survey provided comparison data and experiences in AFGs, two-dimensional OFGs and traditional face-to-face focus groups.

The findings identify the advantages and disadvantages of AFGs for marketing research. There is no evident difference in data quality between the results of AFGs and face-to-face focus groups. AFG compensates for some of the serious limitations associated with OFGs.

The paper reflects on three issues, data quality, conduct of AFGs (including the moderator reflection) and participant experience, that together inform one’s understanding of the characteristics, advantages and limitations of AFG.

This is the first paper to compare between AFGs, traditional face-to-face focus groups and OFGs. AFG holds many advantages over OFGs and even, sometimes, over face-to-face focus groups, providing a suitable environment for researchers to collect data.

The purpose of this study is to provide researchers with a better understanding of the cultural impact on information processing in virtual learning environment.

This study uses a causal loop diagram to depict the cultural impact on information processing in the virtual human resource development (VHRD) learning platform. This study takes a theoretical approach and examines current literature pertaining to VHRDs, virtual worlds (VWs), system dynamics, causal loop diagrams (CLDs) and cross-cultural studies.

This study provides a conceptual model to describe and discuss the cultural impact on information processing in VHRD.

Literature has begun to reflect the concerns with cultural impact in VHRD; however, research is still in the beginning stages. This study proposes a conceptual model of information processing that includes the cultural impact. Future work based on this study will continue to test and improve the conceptual model.

The conceptual model accounts for the complexities of the interaction between internal and external information processing systems. Instructional designers or educators can apply this conceptual model to understand the impact of culture on information process during training programs in the VHRD environment. With this model, they could provide an effective or efficient training programs for their trainees.

The conceptual model adopts a systemic viewpoint to describe the cultural impact on VHRD. For future studies, researchers could adopt this conceptual model to further illustrate the association between understanding information processing and recognizing the cultural impact on information processing.

This study provided a framework for HRD researchers and practitioners to detect challenges and opportunities to work with cultural impact on information processing in VHRD. Instructional designers or educators could utilize this model to understand the process, and further offer an effective or efficient training programs for their trainees.

In an environment of constant technological change, the use of virtual teams (VTs) has become commonplace for many organizations. VTs bring together dispersed individuals with varying knowledge and skill sets to accomplish tasks. VTs rely heavily on information technology (IT) as the medium for communication and coordination of work. The issue of establishing and maintaining trust in VTs poses challenges for these dispersed workers. Previous research has established that higher trusting teams have better cooperation and experience improved outcomes. The authors hope to contribute to the literature on trust in VTs by exploring how technology can facilitate high trusting teams. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to report the results of the research addressing the following question: how does the use of technology capabilities (TCs) afforded by virtual worlds (VWs) affect the development of trust in VTs?

A multiple case-study approach was used as the primary research design. Each case spanned a two-week period allowing for longitudinal data collection. The research was conducted within a VW setting with an emphasis on IT capabilities that are unique to three-dimensional VWs. Both qualitative and quantitative data collected during this process were analyzed at the group level.

The authors found that communication, rendering and interaction TCs allowed participants to use the technology to assess individual capabilities. While this paper answers some questions about how TCs can help develop trust in VTs, it also raises many questions. This study offers a model and framework for further work on this topic and encourages researchers to investigate other social and behavioral issues faced by VTs in a VW setting.

While this paper answers some questions about how various TCs can help develop trust in VTs, it also raises many questions. The study results may not be generalizable if the respondents who visit an immersive VW are different from those who do not have sufficient VW experience. However, the authors believe that the relationships between the constructs would remain. Another potential limitation has to do with how often trustfulness/trustworthiness were measured in the study. Measuring trustfulness/trustworthiness at additional points in the study would help determine specific points where these constructs changed. Finally, the study suffers from the common criticisms of case study research. Case research requires direct observation which includes cost, time and access hurdles. However, many of these challenges were addressed by using various data collection methods. Another difficulty is the need for multiple methods for triangulation and lack of controls. Again, the study addressed these difficulties by combining qualitative and quantitative data sources.

This research provides deeper insight for organizations using VTs in terms of how TCs can be used to engender trust. This has implications for how we design collaboration technologies.

The fundamental societal implication of this research is the conclusion that human behavior in the present world can potentially carry over in the VW and that TCs can be adapted and used to influence trust in VTs. This has implications for how we design collaboration technologies.

This paper offers practical implications for developing trust in VTs, specifically, how the use of TCs can facilitate trust development. The goal was not to recommend a specific technology platform, but rather explore how unique TCs impact behaviors in VTs. The study identified interesting findings relating to how people use TCs to complete tasks and collaborate on a team. These findings may be used to help develop guidelines and recommendations for using technology to enhance work practices in VTs.

Distance learning (DL) programmes are becoming increasingly popular in higher education. Overcoming feelings of isolation that may occur due to the reduced support available, the few possibilities of social interaction and the non-existent campus atmosphere in online courses, have become one of the major challenges of designers and instructors of DL programmes. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper provides an example of how the authors can create and use virtual world (VW) learning spaces that not only match the face-to-face learning experience, but also enhance it. Innovation@UWE Island in Second Life, home of the MA education in virtual worlds, is an example of pedagogical innovation that capitalises on what VWs have to offer to social aspects of teaching and learning. In this programme the authors use a three-dimensional virtual space to provide postgraduate students – physically located in diverse geographical areas of the world – with a sense of community and connectedness that matches the sense of belonging that often accompanies the on-campus learning experience.

The paper provides examples of students engaging in an environment where traditional conceptions of both “teaching” and “learning” do not apply, where the four-walled classroom is not the only setting where learning happens, where everyone in the group can potentially be an instructor or a peer, an expert or a novice, and learn from each other in a meaningful way.

This paper introduces the rationale behind the choice of architecture of the learning environment as well as the instructional design of the programme to enhance co-presence and place presence, to build a true community of practice and to foster collaboration for reflective learning.

Rich, interactive media are becoming extremely common in internet recruitment systems. The paper investigates the role of media richness in applicants’ ability to learn information relevant to making an application decision. The authors examine these relationships in the context of two competing theories, namely media richness theory and cognitive load theory, which predict opposite relationships with information acquisition. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Participants (n=471) either viewed a traditional web site or visited an interactive virtual world that contained information about an organization's culture, benefits, location, and job openings. Culture information was manipulated to either portray a highly teams-oriented culture or a highly individual-oriented culture.

Participants who viewed the low-richness site recalled more factual information about the organization; this effect was mediated by subjective mental workload. Richness was not related to differences in culture-related information acquisition.

These findings suggest that richer media (such as interactive virtual environments) may not be as effective as less rich media in conveying information. Specifically, the interactive elements may detract focus away from the information an organization wishes to portray. This may lead to wasted time on the part of applicants and organizations in the form of under- or over-qualified applications or a failure to follow instructions.

This study is among the first to use a cognitive load theory framework to suggest that richer media may not always achieve their desired effect.

Virtual Reality (VR) emerged as a technology when Ivan Sutherland created the ‘Sword of Damocles’, the first visual display enabling users to be immerse themselves in a 3‐dimensional environment (Sutherland 1968). This virtual 3‐dimensional visual display profoundly changes the relationship between the user and the computer. With this virtual interface, the user is placed inside the computer‐generated environment. This concept has revolutionized information displays. For the first time, the user interacts with a spatial display. The virtual display is engineered to fit how we, as humans, perceive things intuitively. Humans are spatial beings and virtual interfaces evolved from the desire to make machines more human‐like (Furness 1986). The paradigm shift in information displays lies in the inclusiveness of the virtual interface. The multi‐sensory display of VR amplifies the perceptions and experiences of the user (Bricken 1991).

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of product display based on colour, discount and brand on retail pleasure, arousal, flow, perceived merchandise quality, time spent, satisfaction and patronage intentions in both 3D and 2D interfaces. This study uses the flow theory and stimulus-organism-response framework to understand the effects of product coordination methods and interface dimensions on consumers’ emotional, cognitive and behavioural outcomes.

This study conducted a 2 (interface: 3D and 2D) × 3 (product coordination method: colour, discount and brand) between-subjects experimental design. The coordination of display refers to the way products are arranged based on similar properties, such as similar colour, discount or brand. 3D stores were designed using Mockshop, a 3D virtual retailing software. A total of 144 US female college students from various universities participated in the study.

The findings showed that the 3D interface produced higher flow, satisfaction, time spent and patronage intention than the 2D interface. Also, among the six display scenarios, participants who were in the colour-coordinated 3D store showed the highest levels of emotional, cognitive and behavioural outcomes except for retail pleasure and arousal.

This study investigates product display based on colour, discount and brand in both 3D and 2D interfaces. Although product coordination methods have been tested in 3D stores in previous studies, they have not been compared with their effects in the 2D interface such as online shopping sites. Therefore, this study fills in this gap in the literature, which can guide retailers in making the right decisions for visuals.